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Flagstaff Forest Fire

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NTD:
I stand corrected.  There is some obviously unique factors going on there.  Hope those guys get it contained quickly.

Lombard:
That is sad news. Nature seems to recover much faster than we imagine from those fires. I have been out there before going back to Phoenix from the Grand Canyon. Wanted to stop and ski at the Snowbowl, but couldn't get the rest of the group into it. Beautiful country out there.

Tsalagi:
Nate, you are right about decades of fire suppression being at the root of this.  Basicaly, a healthy ponderosa forest is huge diameter trees spaced far apart. Fire plays its part by burning along the ground and clearing away tinder, deadfall, and the small diameter trees that would crowd the big whoppers eventually. Those fires never reach the crowns of the whoppers and the fire creates nutrients as well.

But what we have here is years and years of old-style logging where all the big whoppers were cut down and little diameter trees popped up like weeds and grow close together in what they call doghair thickets. Decades of fire suppression protected these doghair thickets. So, what we have now are fires that never really see much of the ground until much later in the life of the fire. What happens is the fire moves through the crowns of the trees, totally destroying them. These fires move as fast as the brush fires in Southern California. With a healthy ponderosa forest, the fires wouldn't reach the crowns of the trees. They'd be too high and they couldn't move through the crowns because the trees would be growing far enough apart.

The forest service here does a great job in forest restoration, clearing doghair thickets, and burning off stuff in prescribed burns. But there's so much forest here in need of work, they can't get everything. Once the forest is back to what it should be, they should be able to let fires run their course.

stickbender:
     
     In 1910, in Thompson Falls, Mt. they had a fire that burned so hot, there is a large patch on the mountain where even grass and weeds have an extremely hard time growing.  It very barren.  It just killed the soil.   A regular, fire that burns on through, and is out soon, is a real benefit to the area, as there are some species of conifers, that need fires to open the cones for the seeds to fall out, and the new grass, and other buds coming up, draw the deer, and other species, in.  But a really hot fire with lots of fuel, fanned by winds, is like a blast furnace, and ruins the Eco system, like in Thompson Falls.  To this day, there are no trees on that ridge, or slope, and extremely sparse vegetation like a few weeds, and such, but nothing promising, and it has been a hundred years since the fire!  :o
An annual, or bi annual prescribed fire, depending on the growth rate of the vegetation, goes a long way, to preventing excess fuel load, and promoting a healthy Eco system, for the wildlife, and hunters.  I would think they would have a program to thin out the "doghair" thickets, and cut down some of the many smaller diameter trees, and let the larger ones continue to grow, and keep the area thinned of brush, and such that could cause a crown fire.  But if there are high winds, you will get one anyway.

                                                                            Wayne
                                                                          Wayne

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